Digital and Information Services is very mindful of the impact of its services on the environment, and the need to contribute to the Sustainability theme of Aberdeen 2040. Work is ongoing in relation to the environmental impact of our IT infrastructure, and in 2023 we were delighted to swap our diesel library van to a fully electric version to make the journey every day to the University institutional store in Inverurie where our low use books are kept.
To contribute to this, Library Services recently formed an exciting new group to look at the challenges and solutions around sustainability and environmental issues in libraries. The group has been working on several projects to make the library greener and help towards the university’s commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Our vision is to work within and gain a deeper understanding of the CILIP Green Libraries Manifesto, and to learn from peer institutions who have also signed up to this initiative. We have also brought hydroponic plants to Floor 2 of the Sir Duncan Rice Library - furthering the atmosphere of ‘well-being’ in the building.
Our successful projects include:
- Introducing hydroponic plants to the Sir Duncan Rice Library with plans to add more in future after reviewing how well they do in this environment. Plants are housed on Floor 2 of the SDRL. We would like to name them, so please get in touch if you have any ideas!
- Hosting displays and activities on sustainability in the library. As well as promoting Plastic Free July and Climate Week North East in conjunction with Aberdeen City Libraries, we have held a climate zine workshop and launched a seed swap initiative with community donations.
- Creating a Reading List of titles held by the library on sustainability.
- Holding book giveaways twice a year. Books donated by students and withdrawn from library stock are given away in September and February. If you have any books you would like to pass on to future students, please hand them into one of our library branches.
The group has many ideas that it is continuing to work on – you’ll hear more about these in future blog updates.
If you are working on a project related to sustainability and net zero and would like to discuss what we are doing, please get in touch with Terry Forbes on t.forbes@abdn.ac.uk
Green Libraries Manifesto
As a direct result of the work we are doing we have signed up to the CILIP Green Libraries Manifesto. This is an initiative for libraries to come together with a shared vision to take environmental actions and inspire others to take positive action across a diverse sector of libraries. Many thanks to the institutions that helped us get here by giving us their support and time for interviews.
